It's that time of year, and the studios are getting ready to wine and dine Oscar voters in the hopes of giving their prestige pictures, success stories and, hell, even the long shots, a bit of love in the awards season. And Warner Bros. is getting in on the act. They've launched their awards site, and alongside the obvious contenders like "Magic Mike," "Argo" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" are two more blockbusters, Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" and The Wachowskis' and Tom Tykwer's "Cloud Atlas."

While "The Dark Knight" earned a number of nods for technical achievements along with Best Cinematography and Best Actor (with a win for the late Heath Ledger), it missed out on Best Director and Best Picture at the time (and is unofficially credited with forcing the Academy to expand the field to up to ten films). WB wants voters to consider the project in a variety of fields, placing Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway in the Best Actor and Best Actress category (which likely means Hathaway will go Best Supporting for "Les Miserables"), and the rest of the cast in Supporting. Will Nolan finally get the Best Director nomination that has eluded him? Will Hans Zimmer get recognized for his great work on the series? We'll soon see…

Meanwhile, WB is tossing a Hail Mary for "Cloud Atlas," the ambitious spectacle that divided critics and baffled audiences to the point where no one showed up. Maybe in the tech categories it'll get some love, but beyond that, it doesn't seem likely. Anyway, check out who the studio is pitching below and hit the campaign site for more. [HeyUGuys]

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION – THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

BEST PICTURE
EMMA THOMAS
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
CHARLES ROVEN

BEST DIRECTOR
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Screenplay by
JONATHAN NOLAN and
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
Story by
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN & DAVID S. GOYER

i'm a huge batman fan, but after seeing Cloud Atlas for the second time/starting the book, i totally forgot The Dark Knight Rises (or any other movie for that matter) even came out this year. all the lame critics/reviewers/bloggers who keep downplaying Cloud Atlas are just kowtowing to the system that pays their checks. it's the only film in recent memory, stuffed with so much raw emotion, truth, and humanity, that can so deeply confuse some fans, while completely illuminating others. if you want a movie served on a silver platter, go see Argo or some other big Hollywood "hit", but if you wanna feel something real, go see Cloud Atlas….a few times.

As far as I'm concerned Cloud Atlas was the best movie this year. It was spectacular and never left me bored. I also don't understand what was confusing about it. All the timelines flowed together in a nice logical way.

Hathaway for sure deserves a nomination for Rises though I doubt she'll get it. They should have cut out Modine and gave her a few more scenes, I think a lot more screen time might have clinched it for her

Rises has to be the worst Batman movie that I have ever seen; Batman is an arthritic quitter who is scared of the bad guy. Yes, even in the critically panned 'Batman & Robin', Batman was many things, but a quitter wasn't one of them. Plus, they have a prision in the middle of a desert that doesn't have a roof, inmates that have all kinds of things that they can use to build a contraption to escape, and they don't . The movies music is bombastic, the acting (see: Cotilard's death) is laughable and lazy, and the script has plot holes that you can fly the BAT through. This movie was made to cut a paycheck by Nolan and company; they laughed their way to the bank with this one. This movie is horrid for anyone with an IQ over 100.

The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall show that you CAN make an intimate big budget blockbuster that reflects on modern society, set against the backdrop of a big, spectacular action film. Mendes and Nolan are currenly the masters of mature blockbuster cinema. Hopefully Roger Deakins wins his Oscar, Wally Pfister beat him last time.

Out of all the major studio releases this year I'd say Skyfall and, perhaps to a lesser extent, The Dark Knight Rises are the only ones that have any chance at being considered as one of the year's best picture nominees. Cloud Atlas won't even be on the Academy's radar. I also can't see the Academy giving much of a chance to other big successes like The Hunger Games or The Avengers in major categories. That personally doesn't bother me, but I know there are some out there still rooting for them to get recognition.